Students are facing difficulties with the new graduation guidelines. The new system gives less flexibility for when students wish to graduate.

Originally, if a student was set to complete all of their requirements in the spring or summer semester, then they would participate in graduation for that calendar year.

If a student was set to complete all of their requirements in the fall semester, then they would be given the option to participate in graduation for either that calendar year or the next one.

The system that allowed for this option was “homegrown,” according to registrar Kathy Gros. The new system, however, is not, and therefore, it doesn’t accommodate for two dates on its application.

This means that regardless of when students are set to complete their degree requirements within the calendar year, they must participate with the class of that year.

If students feel like they are going to finish their degree within the calendar year, they should apply to participate in graduation for that year.

If a student felt that they would be able to complete all of their degree requirements any time during 2024, they would have applied to walk with the class of 2024 in the spring.

As for students who completed their degree in the fall of 2023, this will be the last group with a choice of when to participate in graduation.

Because this new system is not homegrown, Gros said she is using a spreadsheet and is manually inputting dates for this group of students.

Gros said, “Everything has to be done manually […] and doing that kind of thing leaves a huge margin for error, and I don’t want that student to show up at graduation and their name is not in the program or I don’t have a seat for them.”

Mass communication graduate Chloe Caudle has already received her degree upon completing her credits in the fall of 2023 and is slated to walk across the stage in May of 2024.

Last spring, she was sent an email stating that she was to walk with the class of 2023 in May 2023.

Many people, including Caudle, were blindsided by this news. At this point in time, the students that were not originally set to graduate hadn’t gone through with the process of making arrangements or buying graduation caps and gowns.

“They made a rule change but didn’t inform anyone, including the higher-ups of each college […] They at least weren’t aware that the change was being implemented that year,” Caudle said. “A lot of people got blindsided because they all of a sudden get this email, and it’s like ‘hey you’re walking this year.’”

Shortly after, the statement was rescinded, and those students slated to graduate with the class of 2024 would walk in the spring of 2024.

If the decision was not rescinded, Caudle’s plan for graduation would have been negatively affected, as she would have had no time to properly prepare or fly her family in for the ceremony.

Gros said she hopes that by 2025, there will be an option for students to walk the following year.